Journal Entries
Shaft
Posted Nov 7, 2000
Strongly reminiscent of 70s style action television - the style of the action sequences, the number of different villains and parts to the story - all suggest that you're an entire season condensed down into 2½ hours.
Another nasty turn by American Psycho's Christian Bale.
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Latest reply: Nov 7, 2000
Frequency
Posted Nov 2, 2000
A grisly detective murder-mystery, a bit of father-son bonding, and the chaotic uncertainty of temporal travel and causality. Who could ask for anything more?
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Latest reply: Nov 2, 2000
Magnolia
Posted Oct 30, 2000
Biblical is probably the best word that describes Magnolia, in terms of length, breadth, depth, symbolism and message.
Probably too long for its own good, but interesting characters makes you want to stay and see how it ends.
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Latest reply: Oct 30, 2000
Coyote Ugly
Posted Oct 25, 2000
'Showgirls' with a PG rating.
There were times during this movie when I thought my head might implode, and there were times when I wished it would.
Something of note: local (Taranaki, New Zealand) girl Melanie Lynskey doing a turn as a Jersey Girl.
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Latest reply: Oct 25, 2000
A Twofer: Rules of Engagement & Road Trip
Posted Oct 10, 2000
Rules of Engagement attempts to cash in on the success of the film A Few Good Men and the TV series JAG. It's good to see the producers of this film attempt to keep the budget well under control by cutting out things like plot, drama, suspense and chess-like legal machinations. They also appear to have gotten a good number of cliches, flag-waving patriotism and racial stereotypes at bargain-basement prices
Road Trip tries to cash in on the sudden fascination, or perhaps, renaissance, Americans are having with crude/cretin humour. Road Trip attempts to recreate the feel of classic National Lampoon college movies and checks the boxes on crude humour and copious female nudity. There are a few reminders that this is the year 2000, but apart from the use of a handycam (around which the "plot" revolves), this could've been made around the same time as Porky's. There is one major factor missing: rebelling against authority. There is a small plot thread where one character goes up against his hard-ass father, but it's never a major driver in the film. Another has the lead character dealing with an uppity teacher's assistant, but this isn't quite the same as taking on the dean of the university.
The central theme, if there is one, is relationships, oddly enough. Which I guess does make it a NatLam for 2000, after all.
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Latest reply: Oct 10, 2000
Mustapha
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